Yes, Jim Wooldridge fills out a March Madness bracket, just like everyone else.

(This one, of course, is strictly for entertainment purposes, so the NCAA watchdogs and the folks in the UC Riverside compliance office can take a deep breath and go on about their business.)

But when it comes to watching the games that will command our attention and sap a workforceâs productivity over the next three weeks, the Highlanders head coach naturally looks at them differently than you or I might.

We root. He analyzes.

âI donât care who wins a North Carolina-Duke game,â he said. âI could care less. But I like to see what theyâre doing. What happens in the last minute when itâs tied? Does the coach change defenses? How do they use the shot clock? How do they use timeouts? Where does the ball end up?â

One X-and-O trend Wooldridge has noted is an evolution away from motion or flex offenses and toward more of an NBA style of offensive play.

âBack in the â80s and â70s, coaches would say, âTwo dribbles is all you need,â â he said. âCut, screen, cut, screen.

âKansas, one of the best teams in the country, is going to run 90 percent of their stuff off pick-and-roll. Ninety. You work on pick-and-roll, what are you trying to get out of it? Spacing, a roll, a slip, certain reads out of it. But itâs not very sophisticated basketball. You donât have to have a great offensive mind to play in a pick-and-roll offense.â

Still, at its heart, the game and the coaching profession are less about strategy than about assembling and managing talent. Wooldridge is big on the concept of âprocess,â the way a team gets from October 15 to its final destination.

âThereâs been an evolution of improvementâ with every team in the tournament, he said. âWe always tell our guys, âYou canât cheat the process.â You canât skip from today and go to a month later without putting all of your dues into it to get to where you want to get to.

âThose teams that have been proven to be good teams, theyâre probably playing the best basketball of the year right now. Their role identification has been met and played to. Shot selection is good, if not great. Youâll see better defense. These scores start to come down because these teams are sophisticated defensively. They know how to stop a pick-and-roll game or a power triangle. They get back down the floor. They donât allow easy shots.â

An example in this yearâs field might be Michigan State. Wooldridge recalled watching the Spartansâ first game of the season, a 67-55 loss to North Carolina Nov. 11 in the Carrier Classic in San Diego, and wondering how coach Tom Izzo would get his team from Point A to Point B. Obviously, Izzo did, because the Spartans (27-7) are a No. 1 seed.

âThe one thing (that) makes him so difficult to beat is that they donât beat themselves,â Wooldridge said. âAnd they are not going to be outhustled.â

But there is this: As much as the public loves underdogs and Cinderellas and mid-majors â" a position with which Wooldridge would figure to identify, as he works to someday have his UCR team fill one of those roles â" he also understands that by the Final Four, those still standing are usually the most talented.

âIt gets very simple when it gets to that point,â he said. âPlay together. Donât play selfishly. Defend your tail off. Rebound. And donât beat yourself. And then let that talent go make the plays.â

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